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Make Your Own Refrigerator Log Peanut Butter Cookies by Cleo Coyle

When busy families have a hankering for home-baked cookies, they often reach for store-bought logs wrapped in plastic. While those pre-made logs are convenient, you can't beat the taste of fresh ingredients in homemade.

In traditional peanut butter cookie recipes, you're instructed to roll the dough into little balls and smush each down with a crisscrossing of fork prongs. If you want to stick to that standard method, no worries, this recipe can be made that way, too. On the other hand, there are several advantages to the refrigerator log method...

* Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator allows the flavors to develop, which produces a better tasting cookie.

* The log gives you the convenience of only slicing off and baking as many cookies as you need at the time, which means you can serve up a warm pan of them, freshly baked, every afternoon or evening until the dough is gone, instead of being stuck baking all the dough at once.Finally, nothing says Lovin' from the Oven like a pan of home-baked peanut butter cookies, slightly crispy on the outside, warm and tender on the inside. May you bake these with love and eat them with joy.~ Cleo

Directions: Using an electric mixer, cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars in a bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in remaining ingredients until soft dough forms. Using hands, shape dough into 2 or 3 logs of about 2-inches in diameter. Wrap tightly in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight. The flavors will develop and the log will firm up. You can now slice as many or as few cookies as you like before re-wrapping the log and returning to the fridge for storage. Note: The most popular brand of store-bought log cookies says their brand will last 1 week after opening. That's about the same amount of time I'd give these homemade logs in your refrigerator. To freeze, slice up the cookies first, place them flat on a plate (lined with plastic or wax paper so they don't stick). After about 90 minutes, take the firmed-up cookie slices and drop them into a freezer-safe plastic bag, seal and store (up to 3 months).

To Bake: While you certainly don’t need to use fork prongs to make a crisscross design on each slice, I find the traditional look of a peanut butter cookie isn't quite complete without those cute little X’s. I dip my fork tines into a bit of water and then granulated sugar before dragging them lightly across each slice. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 17 minutes. The exact time depends on your oven and the thickness of your cookie slices. Do not over-bake. Peanut butter cookies with scorched bottoms are pretty much inedible, so be careful. The cookies should be lightly golden brown and not dark brown. Remove from pan promptly, cool on a rack, and...eat with peanut butter cookie joy!